Adams, Walter M.: The house of the hidden places: a clue to the creed of early Egypt from Egyptian sources (London, 1895)

IV.] The Sacred Kalendar. 127

then he threw the "odd day" in along with
the " odd month " ; much as a child, who has
broken his toy-horse, glues a bit of tail to the
shortest of the legs, and calls aloud on creation
to admire his handiwork.

Nor is the difference between the Egyptian
and the alien treatment of the kalendar acci-
dental or unimportant. On the contrary, it
suggests the key to its use in the ancient
country, as the great politico-religious instru-
ment whereby the social economy of the nation
was co-ordinated with theosophy of the priest-
hood. Among modern nations monotony of
recurrence seems to be the single object
desired, so as to offer every facility for the
arrangements of business or pleasure, and to
confine within the strictest limits the diminu-
tive period allotted to the life to come. Any
system therefore which breaks the regular
routine, more particularly if it be connected,
as in ancient Egypt, with the commemoration
of sacred events, provokes impatience much